Cost of Christmas turkey soars 25% because of rising demand for
meat and dairy from India and China

What a turkey! Families face paying an extra £10 for their Christmas bird

The cost of a festive turkey is likely to be 25 per cent higher this Christmas - because of rising demand for meat and dairy products among the rapidly expanding middle classes of India and China.

This has contributed to a doubling in the cost of turkey feed over the past 12 months.

As a result, British families look set to pay about £50 for an average 12lb turkey – up from £40 last year.

And the cost of a traditional free-range 12lb Bronze turkey will rise from just over £60 to £66, according to industry experts.

Up to 70 per cent of a turkey’s daily food is grain and farmers have been faced with wheat and soya doubling in price. Increased production costs have been passed on to supermarkets and wholesalers.

Sean Rickard, an agricultural economist, said: ‘For every pound of poultry meat produced, you need two-and-a-half pounds of grain. The effect of rising living standards in countries like China and India is that the people are eating more meat and dairy products.

‘Consequently, we have seen world grain prices rise and these higher prices are feeding through to supermarkets and in particular to fresh meat and dairy foods.’

Big bird: But those at the National Farmers Union poultry board said the days of buying a huge Turkey and eating leftovers for days are gone thanks to the recession

The major supermarkets have not yet announced turkey prices for Christmas. But market analysts are convinced rival chains will trigger a price war.

The cost of fresh turkey meat has already risen by up to 20 per cent over the past year.

For the Christmas market, when ten million turkeys are consumed in Britain, supermarkets Asda, Morrisons and Tesco just say they intend to keep price increases as low as possible.

Waitrose said it hoped to limit rises on its ‘Essentials’ range to between five and six per cent.

Roger Kelsey, chief executive of the National Federation of Meat and Food Traders, which represents 1,200 butchers’ shops, said: ‘The general view from members is it is going to be a difficult Christmas.